Thursday, July 16, 2015

At the most recent outing for the MF's Factory 500 program, members got a
special glimpse into some one-of-a-kind places in Pittsburgh. The first
stop was at the studio of Lenka Clayton,
a British conceptual artist now living and working in Pittsburgh. Named
the 2013 emerging artist of the year, Lenka opened her studio and gave
members a presentation of her past and present works, including Typewriter Drawings and the Artist Residency in Motherhood she founded in 2012.

Artist Lenka Clayton presenting her work to Factory 500 Members

The next stop was the Clemente Museum. Executive Director and Curator Duane Rieder has meticulously renovated a historic firehouse to showcase the world's largest exhibited collection of artifacts which focus on Pittsburgh Pirate's legend and humanitarian, Roberto Clemente. Whether you know all about the man or nothing at all, the museum is one big reminder of how influential Roberto Clemente was for the game of baseball and both the Pittsburgh and Latin American communities.

And to top off the night, Factory 500 members enjoyed a sampling of wines at Engine House 25, the winery in the basement of the Clemente Museum.

Factory 500 members enjoying a sampling of wines in Engine House 25.

A huge thanks goes to everyone who came out for this special Factory 500 event. Stay tuned for more information about our next membership event!

Factory 500 is the Mattress Factory's premier membership program, chaired by Susan Lammie. The group tours private collections, artist studios, local businesses, and other interesting arts destinations in Pittsburgh several times throughout the year. Don't miss out - Join today!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

In order for us to understand the present, we need to study the past. Mini-Factory tackled the topic of HISTORY. In essence, the past is a sequence of events which leads to the present. Our group of five-year-olds and their parents compared this idea to dominos; by standing up dominos in a line, we used our hands to make HISTORY and watch how events occur through time. Despite the challenges of keeping these skinny little rectangles vertical, our group of young artists caught on quick to the idea.

We followed up with a visit to Bill Woodrow's "Ship of Fools," an installation in the Mattress Factory's permanent collection at 1414 Monterey Street. It was so much fun to peer into this room of objects left stranded in the past. Cupboards are open, the paint is peeling, ... who lived here and used this space? What event occurred to make them leave? Even the light was left on as if the residents were in a hurry to leave. The objects give us clues about the HISTORY of this space, and the artists tells the story.

Mini-Factory is an interactive learning program for children ages three to five years old and their parents or caregivers. Using contemporary installation art, parents and children will explore new ideas and concepts from the everyday world. Join us at 10am on July 25 for FANTASY.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Recently in the garden: magic tricks during the Community Garden Party.

Winifred Lutz designed and built the garden installation from the rubble of the old paper factory, native plants, and boulders from the area, linking past and present, urban and natural landscapes. For our next ARTLab on Saturday July 18, we'll be enjoying our time in the garden and tapping into some summertime nostalgia with the following activities:

Make your own MAGIC POTION mixture with water, herbs, and special magic garden items!

MUD PIES! Make yourself or a friend a lovely muddy confection and decorate it with whatever you can find in the garden.

Make a newspaper sit-upon so you can sit wherever you'd like in the garden. At 3pm, we'll have an imaginary TEA PARTY and play some improvised tea party games.

It's summer, let's have some fun! And in the meantime you might uncover some fun hidden secrets that Winifred Lutz left in the garden.

As always, ARTLab is FREE with museum admission and is fun for all ages!